[05/27/09 - 12:31 PM]ABC Finishes No. 2 for the Week with Young AdultsABC spins the numbers for the week of May 18-24.

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report
For the week of May 18, 2009
(Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

ABC Finishes No. 2 for the Week with Young Adults, Claiming 4 of the
Top 20 TV Shows in Viewers and Adults 18-49, Placing 2 in the Top 5

ABC Closes Out the TV Season as Monday's No. 1 Net in Viewers for the 12th
Week Running and No. 1 in Women 18-49 for 19 Straight Weeks, the Longest
Monday Winning Streak in the Key Women Demo for Any Net Since at Least 1991

Opposite All-Original Programming on CBS, NBC and Fox, the Monday Finale for
"DWTS" Leads its Slot in Viewers and Young Adults for the 6th Consecutive Week

Opposite Season Finales on CBS and Fox, ABC's Season Opener of "The
Bachelorette" is Up Over its Year-Ago Premiere in Viewers and Adults 18-49

Holding 100% of its "DWTS" Lead-in with Women 18-34, "The Bachelorette" Dominates its 2-Hour Time Period and Stands as Monday's No. 1 TV Show

ABC Finishes a Strong No. 2 to Fox on the Final Tuesday of the Season
In Viewers and Adults 18-49, with its Best Results on the Night in 6 Months

In its 8th-Season Finale, ABC's "DWTS" Dominates its 2-Hour Time Slot in Viewers And Young Adults and Beats its Combined Network Competition Tuesday at 10pm

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" Finale Grows its Overall Audience Year to Year

On its Season Finale, "Ugly Betty" Earns Second in its 2-Hour Slot with Adults 18-49

ABC Dominates Saturday with NBA Playoff Coverage, as the Lakers-Nuggets
Game 3 Generates Best-Ever Numbers for a Conference Finals Game on ABC

A Replay "America's Funniest Home Videos" Makes ABC No. 1
In Adults 18-49 in Sunday's at 7pm Hour, for the 6th Week in a Row

Sunday from 8-9pm, a Repeat of ABC's "Home Edition" Beats
CBS' Original "Million Dollar Password" by 33% in Adults 18-49

WEEK No. 35:

During the week spanning the final nights of the 2008-09 TV Season leading into the Memorial Day weekend (w/o 5/18/09), ABC finished No. 2 to Fox in Adults 18-49 (2.1/7-tie) and Adults 18-34 (1.7/6), holding second place in the latter demo for the 6th straight week.

Rankings: ABC claimed 4 of the Top 20 TV shows for the week in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, including 2 of the Top 5 programs with the Monday and Tuesday season closers of "Dancing with the Stars": "Dancing with the Stars Results" � No. 3/No. 4, "Dancing with the Stars" � No. 4/No. 5, "NBA Playoffs on ABC-SAT 3 (LA Lakers at Denver Nuggets)" � No. 16/No. 11 and "The Bachelorette"
� No. 18/No 16. In fact the Lakers-Nuggets Saturday night contest generated best-ever numbers for an NBA Conference Finals game on ABC. ABC News' "20/20" finished as TV's No. 1 newsmagazine for the week in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd week in a row.

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 31% currently, from 25% at the same point in 2008. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Monday

On the final Monday of the 2008-09 Television Season, ABC stood as Monday's most-watched network (12.3 million � tied) for the 12th week running. With ABC's lineup of the Monday finale of "Dancing with the Stars" leading into the season premiere of "The Bachelorette," ABC dominated the night across all key Women demographics (W18-34 � 4.2/12, W18-49 � 5.2/13 and W25-54 � 6.0/14), winning Monday among Women 18-49 for the 19th week in a row.

� Extending its winning run on the night, the Net is seeing the longest winning streak on the evening among Women 18-49 for any net since at least 1991 � predating the start of Nielsen's electronic database.

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-9:02 p.m.)

Opposite stiff all-original competition, including season finales on CBS ("How I Met Your Mother") and Fox ("24"), the Monday season' finale of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" led its time period in Total Viewers (19.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.4/11) for the 6th straight week. In fact, "DWTS" led its time period in all 11 telecasts in Viewers of Season Eight and 10 of 11 telecasts in Adults 18-49. In the key young adult demo, ABC towered over CBS (3.2/9) by 38%, Fox (3.0/9) by 47% and NBC (1.2/4) by 267%. In all 11 telecasts this season, "DWTS" stood as Monday's No. 1 TV program in viewers, as well as in Women 18-49 (6.4/17) and Women 25-54 (8.0/20).

The season premiere of "The Bachelorette" drew 8.7 million viewers and a 3.0/8 in Adults 18-49, taking second in its time period in both Nielsen measures. On the 5th-Season debut of "The Bachelorette," in which 30 men -- the most ever -- look to capture Bachelorette Jillian's heart, the series was up over its year-ago season premiere by 7% in Total Viewers and by 3% in Adults 18-49 (8.1 million & 2.9/7 on 5/19/08). In the 10 o'clock hour, "The Bachelorette" ranked No. 1, beating the season finale of CBS' veteran drama, "CSI: Miami," among Adults 18-34 (2.8/7 vs. 2.6/8) and Women 18-34 (4.2/12 vs. 3.0/9).

� Retaining 100% of its "DWTS" lead-in among its core audience of Women 18-34 (4.2/12), "The Bachelorette" stood as Monday's No. 1 TV program, dominated its 2-hour time period and posted ABC's highest rating in the time-slot in 7 weeks � since 3/30/09.

Tuesday

With the season finale of "Dancing with the Stars," ABC earned a strong second place to Fox on the final Tuesday of the season, outdrawing third-place CBS with its drama finales on the evening ("NCIS"/"The Mentalist"/"Without a Trace") by 1.2 million viewers (16.1 million vs. 14.9 million) and by 25% in Adults 18-49 (4.0/11 vs. 3.2/9).

� In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC posted its strongest Tuesday in 6 months � since 11/25/08.

"Dancing with the Stars Results" (9:00-11:00 p.m.)

In its 8th-Season finale, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" produced season-high numbers on the night and posted a dominant victory its 2-hour time period in both Total Viewers (20.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.2/14). The "Dancing" finale towered over all 4 of its half-hours in Total Viewers and, after overcoming an "American Idol" overrun feeding into Fox's "Glee" preview, "DWTS" finished a dominant No. 1 in Adults 18-49 during each of its final 3 half-hours. Soaring during its second hour from 10:00-11:00 p.m., "DWTS" beat its combined network competition, original dramas on CBS ("Without a Trace") and NBC ("Law & Order: SVU"), by 3.6 million viewers (21.7 million vs. 18.1 million) and by 12% in Adults 18-49 (5.6/15 vs. 5.0/14). Olympic gold-medal gymnast Shawn Johnson won the ABC dance competition this season, becoming the youngest-ever winner of the mirror-ball trophy. "DWTS" was the night's No. 2 TV show, behind only the Tuesday finale of "American Idol."

� The "Dancing with the Stars" finale produced ABC's second-biggest audience in the 2-hour time period this season, while generating its highest non-sports Adult 18-49 number in 1 year (since 5/20/08).

� "DWTS" increased its overall audience from its year-ago finale, as well as posting increases across each of the key Men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54) and among Teens 12-17.

Thursday

"Ugly Betty" (8:00-10:02 p.m.)

The 3rd-Season finale of "Ugly Betty" earned second place in its 2-hour time period among Adults 18-49 (1.9/6) and across all key Women demographics (W18-34 - 2.2/8/W18-49 - 2.7/8/W25-54 - 3.3/9), trailing only the season premiere of Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance."

Saturday

With ABC Sports' coverage of the 2009 NBA Western Conference Finals game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets (Game 3), ABC won Saturday night in both Total Viewers (7.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.9/9), more than doubling its nearest competition (Fox) on the evening in the key young adult sales demographic (+142% - 1.2/5 - Fox). ABC turned in its best performance in both viewers and young adults on the night in over 5 months - since 12/06/08.

� ABC was up over the same night last year (5/24/08), when it also aired an NBA Conference Finals Game (Boston-Detroit), by 1.7 million viewers (7.2 million vs. 5.5 million) and by 38% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/9 vs. 2.1/6).

� The NBA Playoff game stood as Saturday's No. 1 TV program in Total Viewers (8.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.5/13). In fact, Game 3 of the series scored the best numbers ever on ABC for an NBA conference final in both viewers and young adults (tie).

Sunday

"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)

A rebroadcast of ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" won Sunday's 7 o'clock among Adults 18-49 (1.2/5), taking ABC to the top spot in the first hour of prime for the 6th week in a row.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

A repeat of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" topped its original unscripted competition in the hour, CBS' "Million Dollar Password," by 33% in Adults 18-49 (1.2/4 vs. 0.9/3). In addition, the unscripted ABC program led the 8 o'clock hour in Women 18-49 (1.5/5) and Women 25-54 (1.8/6).